Artichoke grader



g Q I Oct. 28. 1924. 1,513,684

R. R. WOODMAN ARTICHOKB QRADER Filed March 25, 1924 g RJ Maodmala HQ mks;

ATTORNEY of Fig. 1.

Patented ct. 28, 1924.

RALLPH R. YVOODMAN, OF PESCADERO, CALIFORNIA.

ARTIGHOKE GRADER.

Application filed March 25, 1924. Serial No. 701,697.

To all whom. it mag concern:

Be it known that I, RALrI-I R. WooDMAN,

:a citizen of the United States, residing at Pescadero, county of San Mateo, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artichoke Graders; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this application.

This invention relates to grading devices, my main object being to provide a grader especially adapted for grading artichokes, which on account of the more or less long stems which practically form an integral part of the vegetable, are hard to grade in the ordinary type of grader.

At the same time, the device may be used without change for grading other produce such as oranges and the like.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will beexceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the machine. Fig. 2- is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 3-3 Fig. 1 is an enlarged elevation of a special form of conveyor-rope pulley unit, detached. Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, the

numeral 1 denotes a pair of horizontal and This shaft may have a pulley 7 whereby it may be power driven, or it may be rotated by hand through the medium of a handle 8.

The upper run of said belt, at its ends, is

supported by rollers 9, so as to maintain said run in a horizontal plane.

Fixed on the shaft 6 on each side of and in close relation to the pulley 5 are elliptically shaped sheaves 10, whose major axes lie preferably at right angles to each other, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. Endless ropes 11 pass about these sheaves-and ex tend to idler sheaves 12 independently turnable on a shaft 13 mounted at the farther end of the beams 1. Said sheaves 12 are adjustable on the shaft 13, but in any event are spaced further apart than are the sheaves 10, so that the ropes spread apart from the driven to the idler sheaves.

Idler rollers 14 are disposed under the upper run of the ropes 11 just beyond the sheaves 10, the rollers being arranged so that the ropes when resting thereon are horizontally alined.

Between said rollers and the sheaves 12, the ropes rest in shallow grooves 15 provided in guide members 16 which slope outwardly and upwardly from the ropes to form a longitudinal trough leaving an opening therebetween for the full length thereof. This opening is substantially of the same width as the spacing between the ropes and the width increases from the end adjacent the driven sheaves 10 to the end adjacent the idler sheaves 12 just as the space between said ropes likewise increases from one set of sheaves to the other.

The guide members 16 are also laterally adjustable so as to maintain alinement with the ropes when the latter are similarly adjusted by adjusting the sheaves 12. Such adjustment is had by mounting the guides on blocks 17 resting on the beams 1 and provided with slots 18 extending transversely of the beams, through which slots and the beams bolts 19 are passed.

Fixed on one of the beams under the trough and extending lengthwise thereof is a deflectorboard 20 which slopes downwardly across the opening between the members 16 above the lower runs of the ropes 11.

Longitudinally adjustable A shaped par titions 21 are mounted on this board so as to divide the same into a number of separated portions or grading compartments.

The members 16 forming the sides of the conveyor or grading trough being lower than the feed hopper 3, the forward ends of the sides of the latter have wings 22 making a smooth junction with the members 16. In operation, the artichokes are fed in suitable quantities into the hopper, from which they are moved toward the trough and ropes 11 by the feed belt 4. This belt being narrower than any artichoke, the latter passing down the forward end of said belt is caught by and supported by the ropes, while the belt moves under and clear of the artichoke. Due to the odd shape and staggered relation of the sheaves 10 to each other, the ropes adjacent thereto will alternately and oppositely move up and down, and will also have an oppositely timed and jerky longitudinal travel imparted thereto. This is a very important feature since this movement of the ropes causes the artichokes, if they initially rest on the belt with their longitudinal axes transversely of the ropes, to be shifted in position, so that the stems will either project downwardly between the ropes or longitudinally thereof.

In either case, the artichoke is then position for proper grading according to its actual diameter and not according to its length of stem. lhe artichokes are then carried along by the conveyor ropes until the spacing between the ropes and trough walls is suflicient to allow the artichokes, according to their size, to pass between the ropes and onto the board bet-ween adjacent partitions, from which board the artichokes will roll into boxes or other containers removably disposed under the machine to receive them.

The ropes and guides 16 are preferably adjusted so that the largest artichokes will be supported by the ropes for the full length thereof and will be carried over the end of the machine while the artichokes of in termediate sizes will drop from between the ropes at dilferent points in the length there of as above described.

By making the ropes and guides adjustable as to spacing, the machine may be arranged to accommodate any range of size of matter tobe graded, within reason.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

\Vhile this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A grader comprising horizontal endless driven ropes divergingly and transversely spaced, longitudinally spaced sets of sheaves over which said ropes pass, the produce to be graded being fed onto said ropes at one end thereof, and means for imparting a longitudinal jerky movement in a continuous direction. to the ropes with the travel thereof.

2. A grader comprising horizontal endless driven ropes divergingly and trans versely spaced, longitudinally spaced sets of sheaves over which said ropes pass, the produce to be graded being fed onto sait ropes at one end thereof, and means for In parting an oppositely timed jerky movement in a continuous direction to the ropes with the travel thereof.

3. A grader comprising horizontal endless driven ropes divergingly and transversely spaced, longitudinally spaced sets of sheaves over which said ropes pass, the produce to be graded being fed onto said ropes at one end thereof, and means for imparting an oppositely timed jerky movement in a continuous direction to the ropes with the travel thereof, and also a similarly timed up and down movement thereof adjacent one end.

4. A. grader comprising horizontal endless driven ropes divergingly and transversely spaced, longitudinally spaced sets of sheaves over which said ropes pass, the produce to be graded being fed onto said ropes at one end thereof, the sheaves adjacent the feed ing means being elliptical in form with their major axes at right angles to each other.

5. A grader comprising horizontal endless driven ropes divergingly and transversely spaced, a deflector board under said ropes having a transverse downward slo e, and transversely extending A shaped partitions projecting horizontally under and across the ropes from the board at longitudinally spaced intervals, whereby to form compartments for the produce dropping between the ropes shaped to cause the produce in each compartment to roll to a common point at the lower end of the deflector board.

In. testimony whereof I affiX my signature.

RALPH R. W0 ODMAN. 

